What is the connection between Genesis 22:1-14 and John 1:29?

There is an amazing connection between the two, for as we shall see they both speak of Christ as the “Lamb of God.” In Genesis He is seen TYPICALLY as the Lamb of God and in John He is LITERALLY called the “Lamb of God” by John the Baptist.

Space forbids me from quoting the whole passage in Genesis, so we will cite key verses. In verse 1 we read “that God tested Abraham” and verse 2 tells us what the test was, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (NKJV). Abraham and Isaac are a beautiful picture of “God the Father” and “God the Son,” for Abraham offering his only son foreshadows God the Father offering up His only Son as an offering for sin.

In verses 3-6 we are told that Abraham obeyed immediately. They journeyed to Moriah and when they got there we read, “Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.” The WOOD pictures the CROSS and the FIRE illustrates God’s JUDGMENT on our sins. Then in verse 7 Isaac asks, “Where is the LAMB for the burnt offering?” Abraham replied, “My son, God will provide for Himself a LAMB for a burnt offering” (verse 8). The LAMB for a burnt offering clearly represents the Lord Jesus who came into this world to OFFER HIMSELF as an offering for sin. The following scriptures testify of this:

*Isaiah 53:7 says, “He (the Lord Jesus) was led as a LAMB to the slaughter.”

*1st Peter 1:18-19 state, “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver and gold…but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a LAMB without blemish and without spot.”

*Revelation 5:6, 8-9 declare, “And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne….stood a LAMB as though it had been slain…the twenty-four elders fell down before the LAMB…and they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy…for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood.”

In summary, we see Jesus PICTURED as the Lamb in Genesis; we see Him PROPHESIED as the Lamb in Isaiah, we see Him DECLARED as the Lamb in John; we see Him VALUED as the Lamb in 1st Peter; and we Him WORSHIPPED as the Lamb in Revelation.

As we read on in Genesis 22:9 we see that Abraham “bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.” The “altar and the wood” represent the cross and this is exactly what God the Father did to His only begotten son. We know that “men put Him on the cross,” but in Acts 2:23 we read: “Him, being DELIVERED BY THE DETERMINED PURPOSE AND FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death.” Yes, men had their hand in the crucifixion of Christ, but it was really “God’s will” that put Him there. Romans 8:32 speaks to this, “He who did not spare His own Son, but DELIVERED HIM UP FOR US ALL.” It is God Himself Who delivered up His Son to that gibbet of shame! He had Him put on the cross, then He laid our sins upon Him (see Isaiah 53:6) and judged Him for our sins (Isaiah 53:5; 2nd Corinthians 5:21 and 1st Peter 2:24; 3:18). The Lord Jesus truly is, as John the Baptist said, “the LAMB of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (288.3) (DO)